Which option gives the correct meaning of a competent cell?

Correct answer: A cell prepared for DNA uptake

A competent cell is a host cell that has been made capable of taking up foreign DNA from its surroundings. In bacterial transformation, competence may be induced by chemical methods, such as treatment with divalent cations and heat shock, or by electroporation, which briefly increases membrane permeability. Therefore option A is correct. The word competent refers specifically to increased ability for DNA uptake; it does not mean that the cell makes water, digests protein, or contains only chlorophyll. Once DNA enters, other requirements still determine whether the vector survives, replicates, expresses a gene, or is selected successfully. Competence is thus an entry condition, not the complete outcome of transformation.